Mayor`s Fundraisers Investigated

August 16, 1985|By Robert Davis and James Strong.

State`s Atty. Richard Daley has ordered an investigation into allegations that campaign workers for Mayor Harold Washington may have illegally misused reports of campaign contributions to other politicians, including Daley himself.

Daley`s office announced Thursday that Franklin Schwerin, a special assistant state`s attorney, has been named to head the investigation.

The office received a written complaint Wednesday from Ald. Edward Vrdolyak (10th), chairman of the Cook County Democratic Central Committee. Vrdolyak charged that aides to Washington obtained copies of the committee`s annual report on campaign contributions, filed with the Cook County clerk`s office, and used the report to solicit donations.

Another Washington aide, who asked not to be identified, said that the Vrdolyak charge was ``absolutely false`` and that the mayor`s fundraisers

``have been compiling lists for three or four years.``

The campaign-disclosure reports are required by state law, and they are public records. Though anyone can legally obtain copies of the reports, it is a misdemeanor under state law to use the list of contributors contained in the reports ``for the purpose of soliciting contributions or for any commercial purpose.``

Vrdolyak charged that names of contributors on his annual report were used in a mailing list to solicit ticket sales for Washington`s fundraiser Thursday night in the Palmer House hotel.

He contended that a Washington aide, David Persons, a part-time University of Illinois student, also obtained names from the annual reports of other politicians, including Ald. Edward Burke (14th), Illinois Atty. Gen. Neil Hartigan and Daley.

Joseph Novak, an aide to Vrdolyak, said the Democratic organization does not obtain names of potential contributors in that manner, but he acknowledged that other candidates` lists of contributors are often requested directly from the candidates themselves.

``Some give them to us, and others, such as Sen. Paul Simon, tell us to send over 500 invitations to a fundraiser and they will send them out themselves, using their own personal lists,`` he said.

A Washington campaign worker, who asked that his name not be used, conceded Thursday that the annual reports of the mayor`s political rivals had been ``reviewed,`` but he said that was simply ``good politics.``

The aide ``definitely and categorically`` denied that the reports had been used to compile a mailing list for Washington`s fundraiser.

``Every year, they try to embarrass us when we`re having our fundraising effort,`` the aide said. ``They`re seeing people from their side contributing to the mayor`s side, and it`s driving them crazy.``

Tony Morgando, assistant director of the campaign financing division of the Illinois State Board of Elections, said the state law prohibiting such use of the required campaign disclosure reports took effect Sept. 3, 1974, and was designed to protect people who want to make a political contribution but do not want to become part of a large political mailing list.

To obtain other candidates` annual reports in order to obtain names and addresses for solicitation ``is definitely a violation of the law,`` Morgando said.

It is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 fine, a six-month jail sentence or both, Morgando said.